Have you seen the 2019 ADA consensus report regarding nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes and prediabetes which was published in the most recent issue of Diabetes Care? The ADA consensus report is intended to provide evidence-based guidelines for nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes. A new consensus report is published every 5 yrs. It is written by a diverse group of experts who meet to review and discuss studies published since the last consensus report that provides updated evidence on nutrition therapy interventions.
There are a lot of components of nutrition therapy addressed in the report, such as macronutrients, energy balance, eating patterns and alcohol consumption. One of the biggest differences between the 2019 consensus report and the previous published report is the included recommendation for prediabetes.
One of the takeaways I got from the recommendation is, there is still a lot we don’t know. Questions still remain regarding the perfect percentage of macronutrients or the ideal eating plan. Many of the studies done in these areas are either small or show mixed results, meaning more research is needed for conclusive recommendation to be made.
However, here’s what we do know:
- Nutrition therapy improves glycemic control as much or greater than expected from current medication treatments for Type 2 Diabetes.
- People with prediabetes benefit from intensive lifestyle intervention either through DPP programs or individualized MNT.
- Weight loss improves blood sugar control.
- Recommendations regarding a specific eating pattern or percentage of carb/protein/fat needs to be individualized based on a person’s specific needs, personal and cultural preferences and their willingness to make behavioral changes.
If you would like to check out the recommendation for yourself, follow this link http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/42/5/731 or pick up the May issue of Diabetes Care.